Brotherly Tension
by Luigi 4ever
Summary: While rescuing Peach, Luigi is badly injured. Causing tension between Mario and Luigi. Will Luigi still help his brother when it counts, or will anger drive them apart? Please R&R. Rated T for some blood
1. Chapter 1

All characters are owned by Nintendo

Bowser stood smiling at Peach, who was locked in a cage. Suddenly there was a loud crash behind him. Bowser turned and found himself facing Mario and Luigi.

Bowser growled and said "do you mind? This is a private conversation."

Mario ran toward Bowser with Luigi close behind. Mario jumped toward Bowser and landed a flaming punch in his stomach. Bowser coughed and stumbled back. Mario made a break for Peach's cage. Bowser growled and started to run toward Mario. Luigi ran toward Bowser and shoulder rammed him, knocking him down.

Mario opened the cage, grabbed Peach and said "come on, Luigi!"

He began running toward the exit with Peach. Luigi started running after them. Suddenly a koopa ran toward him. It dropped on its stomach and slid into Luigi's legs, tripping him. Bowser charged toward the younger Mario brother. Luigi stood up and started running. Before he took two steps, Bowser swung his claws at him. Luigi jumped to the side, but he wasn't quick enough. Bowser's claws ripped three deep gashes in Luigi's left side.

He yelled in pain and put both hands over the wounds.

"MARIO! HELP!" Luigi yelled.

He started trying to run toward the exit. Bowser grabbed the back of Luigi's overalls and pulled him back. Luigi turned to face him. Bowser punched him in the stomach, hard. Luigi coughed up blood and tried to fight back. He swung at Bowser. Bowser dodged it and swung his claws at Luigi's right leg, leaving three deep gashes across his thy.

"MARIO!" Luigi yelled.

Bowser raised his hand for the final strike, claws ready. Luigi stood up straight and closed his eyes. After a few seconds, he opened his eyes to find Bowser standing there, just looking at him.

"Get out" Bowser said.

"Wha…what?" Luigi asked.

"The so called 'Hero of Mushroom Kingdom' abandoning his little brother to save his own skin makes me sick" Bowser said "you can go."

"Thank you" Luigi said as he began limping toward the exit.

Once Luigi was gone, a koopa walked over to Bowser and said "King Bowser, why did you allow him to escape?"

Bowser smiled and said "because thanks to that incident, Greenie probably won't come with his brother anymore. Plus Mario won't be completely focused on a fight with a guilty conscious. Also if I had killed him, Mario and Greenie's big mouth wife would have killed me."

Meanwhile, Mario and Peach were waiting for Luigi outside of Bowser's castle.

"Where is he?" Peach asked.

"He will be here in a minute" Mario said.

"I'm worried Mario" Peach said "you should have gone back when he called you."

Mario saw his brother coming out of the castle.

"There he is" Mario said "see, he's fine."

When Luigi was getting closer, they saw he wasn't fine. His face was pale from loss of blood and they saw the three gashes in his side and across his leg.

He stumbled over to Mario, still holding his side with both hands and said "y…you left me behind."

"I thought you were behind me" Mario said.

"Didn't you hear me call you?" Luigi asked.

Mario just looked at the ground.

"Yeah, I would be ashamed if I were your position too" Luigi said.

He began limping toward the Mushroom Kingdom.

Mario tried to help him and said "let you help you bro."

Luigi pulled away and said "No! Since it was too much trouble for you to turn your head to see why I was calling you, I wouldn't dare ask you to put in all that effort just to help me walk. You left me to fight by myself so I'll get home by myself."

He started walking toward the kingdom again. After a few yards, he stumbled and fell to his hands and knees. Then he fell over and passed out. Mario and Peach ran to him and picked him up and began carrying him to Peach's castle. Once they got there, Peach's personal physician began operating on Luigi's wounds and giving him blood.

Peach called Daisy and told her what happened. Daisy rushed to the castle and pulled a chair up the bed Luigi was laying on. She sat down and waited for him to wake up. Luigi stayed unconscious the rest of the day and all that night. The next afternoon, his eyes opened slightly. He looked at his side and saw the stitches, then he saw Daisy.

"D…Daisy" he said weakly.

Daisy smiled and said "Luigi! You're awake!" She leaned close to him and said "you had me worried."

Then she gently kissed his lips.

"Where am I?" he asked.

"You're in Peach's castle" Daisy said.

"How did I get here?" Luigi asked.

"Mario and Peach brought you" Daisy said.

"Mario" Luigi said as he tried to sit up.

"No, no" Daisy said as she put her hands on his shoulders and gently pushed him back down.

"Save your strength" she said "you lost a lot of blood and your wounds are very serious."

Luigi looked up at her and said "but he-"

"I know" Daisy said "Peach told me everything."

"Why would he leave me behind?" Luigi asked as a tear ran down his cheek.

"I don't know, sweetie" Daisy said.

A little while later, Mario walked in and saw Luigi propped up on some pillows talking to Daisy.

"Hey bro" Mario said as he walked up to them.

Luigi just looked at him.

Mario walked closer and said "I know you're mad, but I had to make sure Peach was safe."

"Why didn't you come back for me after you got her outside?" Luigi asked.

Mario was just standing there, he didn't have an answer for Luigi's question. Luigi looked at his older brother standing there and he suddenly felt angry at Mario's silence.

"I…it's always about you, isn't it?" Luigi said "as long as you and Peach are ok, who cares about me?"

Mario was surprised, he looked at Luigi and said "Luigi, don't talk lik-"

"NO!" Luigi interrupted.

Tears began running down his cheeks as he yelled "don't act like people care about me! Everyone knows your name! Everybody calls me Green 'stache or Greenie or just Mario's brother! Not even Peach can remember my name! When I helped you save her last month, she said 'thank you Mario and Louis'! LOUIS! And you didn't correct her! I'm a nobody! Everyone treats me like I'm just your sidekick!"

He tried to wipe his tears and said "Just go away."

Mario just stood there looking at his brother. He opened his mouth, but couldn't find any words to say. He closed his mouth and took a step toward Luigi.

"Go away!" Luigi yelled as he began to cry.

Daisy stood up and put her hand in Mario's chest and began pushing him out. She pushed him out of the room and shut the door. She walked back over to Luigi's bed and sat back down.

Luigi looked at her and asked "why doesn't anyone care about me?"

"I care about you Luigi" she said "I love you with all my heart."

"I love you too" Luigi said as he started crying harder.

Daisy gently put her arms around him and pulled him close. She rubbed his back and softly said "it's ok sweetie, let it out. You don't have to be embarrassed to cry in front of me. Just let it out."

Luigi laid his head on her shoulder and cried.

Daisy rubbed his back soothingly and said "that's it, just let it out."

Mario was sitting on the couch staring at the floor. Peach walked over and sat next to him.

"Are you ok?" she asked.

Mario looked at her with tears in his eyes and said "my brother hates me."

"What?" Peach asked. Mario told her everything that Luigi said.

"I'm sure he didn't mean it" Peach said "he is just upset."

"He might be upset" Mario said "but he's right. Most of the toads just call him Mario's brother and you did call him Louis, and I should have corrected you; and sometimes I do treat him like a sidekick." He sighed and said "I've been a terrible brother."

Peach put her hand on his shoulder and said "you have a lot of things to worry about on a daily basis. Sometimes things slip from your mind."

"I know" Mario said "but my younger brother shouldn't be one of those things. He should be one of my number one priorities."

That night, Daisy borrowed some of Peach's pajamas and stayed with Luigi.

The next day, Peach's physician came into the room with Luigi and Daisy and said "I think he is strong enough to take him home, Princess. Just be sure he gets plenty of rest."

He handed Daisy two medicine bottles and said "give him one of each of these every six hours."

"What are they?" Daisy asked.

"One is an antibiotic to help keep the wounds from getting infected, the other is a pain killer" the doctor said "like I said every six hours, it would probably be easiest to do it at noon, six p.m., midnight and six a.m."

"Ok" Daisy said.

The doctor turned to Luigi and asked "would you like a wheelchair or crutches?"

"Crutches" Luigi said.

"Ok" the doctor said.

Luigi and Daisy made their way out of Peach's castle and toward Luigi's mansion. When they got there, Daisy helped him upstairs to their bedroom. She helped him out of his blood stained overalls and helped him put on jeans and a green tee shirt.

"What would you like for lunch?" Daisy asked.

"Anything is fine" Luigi said.

Daisy smiled and said "come on Weegie, anything you want. Just name it and I'll make it."

"Anything?" Luigi asked.

"Anything" Daisy said.

"Can you make lasagna with a little extra parmesan?" Luigi asked.

"You got it" Daisy said smiling "and I'll make you those chocolate chip cookies you love for dessert."

"Thanks" Luigi said.

Daisy kissed his forehead and said "you're welcome."

She handed him the TV remote then she went downstairs to make lunch. Luigi turned the TV on and channel surfed until he found a baseball game. He set the remote down and watched the game. A while later, Daisy brought up two lap trays. She set one across Luigi's lap and set one on her side of the bed. She left and came back with two plates of lasagna. She set one on his tray and the other on hers. She started to leave again.

"Do you want some help?" Luigi asked.

"No" Daisy said "you just lay there and relax."

She left again and came back with a plate of cookies, a two liter of root beer and two cups. They ate lunch and watched the game.

At six, Daisy glanced at her alarm clock and said "it's time for your medicine."

She took a pill out of each bottle and handed it to him. He took the pills and washed them down with the last of his drink. Daisy cleaned up their lunch dishes and took them downstairs. She came back and set the trays in the corner. She laid on the bed and watched TV with Luigi for the rest of the day.


	2. Chapter 2

All characters are owned by Nintendo

A few days later, Mario and Peach were headed to Luigi's mansion to see how he was doing.

"Do you think he's still mad at me?" Mario asked.

"Wouldn't you be?" Peach asked.

"Well, yeah" Mario replied.

"There's your answer" Peach said.

When they got to the mansion, Peach knocked on the door.

Daisy opened it and said "oh, hey Peach."

She looked at Mario and said "hello, Mario."

He just waved.

"Anyway" Peach said "we came to see how Luigi was feeling and I baked you two a cake."

"Thanks" Daisy said.

Luigi walked up on his crutches and said "who's at the door?"

"I told you to stay on the couch sweetie" Daisy said.

"I know" he said "but all this sitting around not doing anything is killing me."

"Hey bro" Mario said.

Luigi looked at him and asked "why are you here?"

"We came to check on you and see how you're doing" Mario said.

"I'm in terrible pain if I don't take my pain killers, I cant walk without crutches, I can't even climb stairs by myself, I have to sit around all day doing nothing and Daisy has to put her life on hold to take care of me" Luigi said "thanks for asking. Come in if you're coming in."

He walked back over to the couch and sat down.

Daisy went and sat next to him, leaned close and said "I don't mind taking care of you sweetie, it's really no big inconvenience."

"I still feel bad" Luigi said.

"Please don't" Daisy said.

Peach put the cake in the kitchen then she and Mario went into the living room and sat down.

After several minutes of silence, Peach finally spoke "so, how long do you think you'll be on those crutches?"

"I don't know" Luigi said "the cuts on my leg are very deep."

Peach sighed and said "Luigi, I feel terrible about this."

Luigi looked at her and said "it's not your fault, you're not the one who left me behind to die."

"Oh come on!" Mario yelled "I didn't leave you to die!"

"Then why didn't you come back when I called for help?!" Luigi asked.

Again, Mario just looked at him. He still didn't have an answer.

A tear ran down Luigi's cheek. He quickly wiped it away and stood up.

"What are you doing?" Daisy asked.

"I'm going upstairs" he said.

"Well, maybe we should get going" Mario said.

"No" Daisy said "I'm going to help him upstairs then we need to have a talk."

"I agree" Peach said "it's time we talk about this."

Daisy helped Luigi upstairs then she came back down.

She sat down and said "now, why didn't you go back for your brother? And silence is not an answer."

Mario looked at her and said "I…I don't know. I guess there were several reasons."

"Such as…" Daisy said.

"Well" Mario said "I thought he could fight Bowser alone."

"After you two had already attacked him so he was already mad and Luigi didn't have the element of surprise" Peach said "and back to the original question; when he called for help, why didn't you go back?"

Mario just sat there looking at them.

"Silence is not an answer!" Daisy said trying not to yell.

"Ok" Mario said "you want the honest truth? Luigi always says he wants credit, so I figured let him beat Bowser alone and I would give him all the credit he wanted. The first time he called, I thought he just wanted help, but I wanted him to do it alone. The second time he called, I was worried and I almost knew he was in trouble; so I admit I should have gone back but I was scared that if I went back I might have gotten hurt too and then who would protect the kingdom. Besides if I had gone back, he would always be dependant on me. Then he would never get the credit he wants. There, that's the truth! Happy now?!"

Daisy stood up and said "get out of my house!"

Mario just looked at her.

Daisy cracked her knuckles and said "get out of my house or Bowser will be the least of your worries."

Peach could tell by the look on Daisy's face that she wasn't kidding. She stood up and began pulling Mario toward the door.

He stopped at the door, turned around and asked "are you going to tell Luigi?"

"Unless you want to go upstairs and tell him yourself" Daisy said.

"No" Mario said "I guess you better tell him."

After they left, Daisy went upstairs to tell Luigi what Mario said. As Mario and Peach were walking home, Mario's cell phone rang.

He looked at the called ID and said "it's Luigi."

He answered it and said "hello?"

"You selfish, egotistical jerk!" Luigi yelled "after everything I've gone through to help you, after everything I've done for you! Including saving you from a ghost filled mansion, TWICE! You think I should have to beat Bowser alone to get any credit?! I beat King Boo alone twice to save you! Did you tell anybody about that?! No! Because that might make people actually want to learn my name! Or it might take a little bit off of your precious reputation! Next time Peach gets kidnapped, you're going alone!" Then he hung up.

Mario looked at Peach.

Before he said anything, Peach said "I know, he was yelling so loud I heard it. He does have a point though."

She started walking toward the castle again.

"What?" Mario asked as he ran to catch up with her.

"I said he has a point" Peach said "he has done a lot over the years that you haven't given him credit for. He does deserve half of the credit when he goes with you."

"You're the one who called him Louis" Mario said.

"Yes" Peach said "but you are the one he rescued from King Boo twice. Maybe you should think about that before you take all the credit."

They were quiet the rest of the way back to the castle.


	3. Chapter 3

All characters are owned by Nintendo

A week later, several koopas were hiding near Peach's castle in the bushes.

"Everyone know the plan?" One of them asked.

"Yes" another said "but why are we trying again so soon?"

"Because King Bowser said so" the koopa replied "now let's go."

The koopas began rushing the castle. Coming through the door and the windows trying to overwhelm Mario. Several of them cornered him and fought him while the rest grabbed Peach and ran back to Bowser's castle. Mario knocked out the koopas that had cornered him and began running outside. When he got outside, he saw that the koopas were too far ahead to catch. He pulled out his cell phone and called Luigi.

Luigi answered and said "hello?"

"Luigi! Peach has been kidnapped!" Mario said.

"Well" Luigi said "go get her." Then he hung up.

Mario sighed, Luigi had every right and a good reason not to go. He ran toward Bowser's castle, alone. When he got there, he fought his way to the prison chamber. Once again, he found Bowser smiling at Peach in cage.

"Hey!" Mario yelled.

Bowser turned around and said "look who's here. Where's Greenie?"

"At his house, badly injured" Mario said "thanks to you."

"I'm not the one who left him behind" Bowser said smiling.

Mario ran toward him and landed a flaming punch in his stomach, just like before. Mario made a break for Peach's cage. Bowser ran after him, grabbed the back of his overalls and pulled him back. Bowser punched him, knocking him down. Then he kicked Mario in the ribs. Several koopas came out of hiding. Some of them blocked the doors, while the rest approached Mario.

"You're not so tough without backup." Bowser said smiling.

He looked at the koopas surrounding Mario and said "have fun."

Then he left the room. The koopas began swarming Mario. Peach pulled out her cell phone. She was about to call Luigi.

"Wait" she thought "he might not answer because of what happened last time."

She quickly dialed Daisy's number.

Daisy answered and said "hello?"

"Daisy!" Peach said "please, we need Luigi. Mario is getting beaten badly. He needs Luigi to back him up."

"You're kidding, right?" Daisy said "the great and powerful Mario can't handle it alone?"

"Daisy please" Peach said "this is serious. I'm not kidding, Mario really needs help!"

"Ok" Daisy said "I'll tell him, but-"

"I know he's still mad" Peach interupted "and in all honesty, I wouldn't blame him if he thinks Mario's getting what he deserves for last time, but please tell him we really need him."

"Ok" Daisy said.

A little while later, Mario was on his hands and knees badly hurt.

"I can't keep up the fight much longer" he thought.

The koopas knew it too. One of them walked toward him. It kicked him in the chest, knocking the breath out of him. Then it walked in front of him, lifted his chin and drew back for the final punch. Suddenly the koopa's body shook for a second as electricity surged through it, then it fell over unconscious. The koopas looked around, then one by the door began running toward him. Suddenly it was clothes lined by what looked like a metal pole. Luigi came in on his crutches. The koopas moved so that half of them formed a wall between Mario and Luigi. The rest surrounded Mario.

"HEY!" Luigi yelled as he began making his way toward him.

The koopas, Mario and Peach all looked at him.

Luigi continued moving toward them.

Sparks and small lightning bolts began coming from his hands as he said "he may not give me the credit I deserve, he may treat me like a sidekick at times, he may be an egotistical jerk, he might have left me behind to fight alone, but NOBODY MESSES WITH MY BROTHER!"

He lunged forward and swung his left crutch, knocking out several koopas blocking him. He raised his left hand and began shooting electricity at the remaining koopas between him and his brother. The koopas surrounding Mario began charging Luigi.

He began shocking them and hitting them with his crutches and said "get Peach and get outta here!"

"What?" Mario asked as he stood up.

"Take Peach and get the two of you to safety!" Luigi said.

"I'm not going to leave you behind again" Mario said.

"You're not leaving me behind" Luigi said as he kept fighting "I'm choosing to stay. Get Peach and get to safety! Don't worry about me!"

Mario was stunned, he started walking toward Luigi to help and said "but Luigi, I-"

"No buts!" Luigi interrupted "the kingdom needs you and Peach more than they need me! Now go before Bowser shows up!"

Mario was shocked, he looked at his brother and said "Luigi I-"

"DO IT!" Luigi interrupted.

Mario nodded. He fought his way to Peach's cage. He broke the lock and pulled her out. He started running toward the exit with her. He stopped at the door and looked back at Luigi.

Luigi looked at him and said "Go!"

Mario took Peach and began fighting his way outside.

Once they were outside, Mario looked at Peach and said "run. Go to Luigi's mansion and stay with Daisy until I get back."

Peach nodded and began running. Mario turned and ran back into the castle. Meanwhile. Luigi was trying to fight his way to the exit. There was a loud roar and all the koopas stepped away from him. Luigi looked toward the direction the roar came from and saw Bowser walking into the room. Bowser saw the empty cage.

He looked at Luigi and said "back for more punishment I see. I didn't think you would come back after last time. I thought your little brotherly bond would be broken."

Luigi did his best to take a fighting stance.

"Did big brother abandon you again?" Bowser asked.

"No" Luigi said "I told him to go."

"Why?" Bowser asked.

"Because he's my brother" Luigi said "and nothing will ever change that."

Mario was running back to Luigi, he could hear them talking.

"You have no idea how much pain and suffering you've put me through" Luigi said "I'll die before I let you it to him."

Mario stopped when he heard what Luigi said.

"I cant believe it" Mario thought to himself "even after what happened to him, he is still willing to lay down his life to keep me safe."

"Aw, you've got such a big heart" he heard Bowser say sarcastically "I can't wait to make it stop beating. This is going to be easy."

Mario began running toward the prison chamber again. Meanwhile, Bowser ran toward Luigi. Luigi hit him in the knee with his crutch, then he hit him in the face with a bolt of electricity. Bowser rubbed his eyes and groaned in pain. Luigi lunged forward and hit him in the jaw with his crutch, when he did, he landed on his right foot. Luigi groaned in pain and used his crutches to take the weight off of his leg.

Bowser saw this, smiled and said "get those crutches!"

Two koopas ran over to Luigi and grabbed his crutches and ran back away from him with them.

"How well can you fight without those?" Bowser asked smiling.

Luigi tried to put weight on his right leg. He groaned in pain and fell.

"I knew this would be easy" Bowser said smiling.

He walked toward Luigi and raised his arm to swing. Suddenly they heard footsteps. Luigi turned and saw Mario running toward them, his right fist was on fire. Mario slammed his fist into Bowser's stomach as hard as he could. Bowser held his stomach and took a step back. Mario jumped up and kicked Bowser in the head. The koopas began running toward Mario. Luigi started shocking them and hitting the ones who were close enough. Mario continued fighting Bowser. Within minutes, Bowser was begging for mercy.

Mario took a step toward Bowser and said "if you ever do anything like this to my little brother again, I will dedicate my life to ruining yours. Got it?!"

"Yes" Bowser said.

Mario knocked him out. Then he grabbed Luigi's crutches and brought them to him and helped him up.

"Are you ok?" Mario asked.

"Yeah" Luigi said.

"Luigi, why did you come to help me after what happened?" Mario asked.

Luigi smiled and said "because we're brothers. You may be an arrogant, egotistical, selfish jerk; but you're my arrogant, egotistical, selfish jerk. I love you bro"

Mario smiled and hugged him and said "I love you too."

Luigi hugged him back.

"Come on" Mario said "let's get outta here."

"Ok" Luigi said.

As they were walking back, they saw the toads hanging a banner that said "Thank You Mario Brothers"

"I'll be right back" Mario said.

He ran over to the toads and called them together and told them something.

Several of the toads pulled out a blank section of banner and began painting it. They draped it over the end of the old banner. Covering up the word 'Brothers' with the words 'and Luigi'

Luigi smiled at Mario

Mario smiled back and said "from now on, I'll give you all the credit you deserve."

"Thanks" Luigi said "but you know most of the toads probably won't believe it."

"I'll make them believe it" Mario said "even if I have to drag Bowser here and make him tell them himself."

"Really?" Luigi asked smiling

"Really" Mario said "after today, I never want to hear anybody call you a sidekick."

"Because I saved you?" Luigi asked.

"Not only that" Mario said "you showed the definition of heroism today. You had every right to stay away after what I did to you. Instead you came to save me, which I know was difficult with your injuries. On top of that you were willing to give it all to make sure me and Peach were safe. If that isn't a hero, I don't know what is."

Luigi was grinning from ear to ear as he said "thanks Mario."

Mario hugged him tight

"Easy" Luigi said "that hurts."

Mario let go and said "sorry, I forgot."

He stepped forward and gently hugged Luigi

Luigi hugged him back

"Come on" Mario said "let's get to your mansion. I'm sure Peach is worried sick."

"Daisy probably is to" Luigi said "let's go."


End file.
